The 19-year-old goaltender is undefeated, tallying wins in 9 of his first 15 appearances. The 2015 first-found pick also has a .937 save percentage and a 1.97 goals against average.

Monday night, Samsonov posted his first shutout of the season against Dynamo Moscow, making 35 saves. His most difficult stop came with 11 seconds remaining in the game.

Video

Watch as the six-foot three-inch goaltender moves post-to-post and jumps, like a hockey frog, to stop a close-range shot from defenseman Mat Robinson with his right shoulder. The shot almost hits him square in the head.

The KHL’s English Twitter account referred to the play as THE SAVE because apparently there will never be a better save for the rest of time.

And to think, there are three goaltenders legitimately ahead of the teenaged Samsonov on the Caps depth chart, including Vezina Trophy winning Braden Holtby, superb backup Philipp Grubauer, and Hershey Bear Vitek Vanecek.

Video

The goal was Semin’s sixth of the season in 26 games. Metallurg went on to win 5-1.

GIF

Semin was the ultimate skill over will Washington Capitals player of this century. He scored nearly 200 goals in his seven seasons in D.C., hitting 40 goals over 73 games during the Caps’ Presidents’ Trophy winning campaign of 2009-10. Two seasons later, his goal total dropped to just 21, despite being perhaps more talented than Alex Ovechkin, one of hockey’s all-time great offensive weapons. After that, he faded into healthy scratch city with the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens before bolting to the KHL.

It’s goals like these that remind us why Semin was an elite scorer in the first place.

Wolski, who has five goals in 19 games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, had to be stretchered off the ice after diving for a loose puck. Wolski collided with Barys’ Vladimir Markelov and crashed headfirst into the boards. Wolski laid on the ice motionless.

Metallurg had an update on Wolski’s condition Friday and it’s not good.

Video

“Wolski suffered a fracture of the seventh and fourth cervical vertebrae, injury of the cervical spinal cord, brain concussion, bruises and abrasions on the face.”

Wolski is still in intensive care and it’s very likely that he will miss the rest of the current KHL season.

Now I’m no doctor, but the on-ice medical staff did a poor job of supporting Wolski’s neck as they transferred him to the stretcher. This just raises more questions about the quality of the KHL’s medical staffs. Wolski’s injury on Thursday also occurred on the eight-year anniversary of the tragic death of 19-year-old Alexei Cherepanov during an Avangard Omsk game. Cherepanov died on the bench after having a heart attack. The ambulance that is required to be on duty at all KHL games had already left (there were five minutes left in the game) and the defibrillator in the arena was non-functional.

Regardless, Wolski called himself “lucky” and had this to say in a text to TSN’s Gino Reda.

During the Adam Oates era, the Polish-born forward was brought into Washington as a potential solution for the team’s unproductive top six. Wolski, a shootout specialist and former 20-goal scorer in Colorado, unfortunately was unable to revive his NHL career. Wolski played in only 27 games with the Capitals during the 2012-13 season before falling into Oates’ doghouse. In the summer of 2013, Wolski bounced out of the NHL, signing with the KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Before the 2015-16 season, Wolski signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk and won the Gagarin Cup as league champions. Former Capital Alex Semin and current Capitals prospect Ilya Samsonov also play on the team.

We would like to wish Wolski the best and we hope he has a swift recovery.

]]>http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2016/09/28/ilya-samsonov-is-dominating-the-khl-right-now/feed/6Dressed as mascots, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Evgeny Kuznetsov play children during first intermission of KHL gamehttp://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2016/09/02/dressed-as-mascots-alex-ovechkin-evgeni-malkin-and-evgeny-kuznetsov-played-kids-during-first-intermission-of-khl-game/
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2016/09/02/dressed-as-mascots-alex-ovechkin-evgeni-malkin-and-evgeny-kuznetsov-played-kids-during-first-intermission-of-khl-game/#commentsFri, 02 Sep 2016 22:38:56 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=111194Ahead of the World Cup of Hockey, the Russian national team has been practicing together in St. Petersburg. On Thursday, Alex Ovechkinparticipated in Knowledge Day ceremonies, welcoming children back to school. Today, in that same vein, the Russian machine joined Evgeny Kuznetsov and Evgeni Malkin out on the ice to play hockey against children during the first intermission of the SKA/Lada Togliatti game.

]]>http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2016/09/02/dressed-as-mascots-alex-ovechkin-evgeni-malkin-and-evgeny-kuznetsov-played-kids-during-first-intermission-of-khl-game/feed/9Alex Semin Re-Signs With Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Will Stay in Russia For Another Yearhttp://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2016/05/30/alex-semin-re-signs-with-metallurg-magnitogorsk-will-stay-in-russia-for-another-year/
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2016/05/30/alex-semin-re-signs-with-metallurg-magnitogorsk-will-stay-in-russia-for-another-year/#commentsMon, 30 May 2016 23:58:50 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=107828

After he was put on waivers by the Montreal Canadiens in December, former Capitals forward Alex Semin flew home to Russia and completed the 2015-16 season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Semin scored five goals and nine assists in 20 regular season games. In the playoffs, Semin did even better, notching seven goals and eight assists in 23 playoff games. Semin and Magnitogorsk won the Gagarin Cup as league champions.

Despite spending 11 seasons and playing 650 games in North America, Semin will not test the NHL free agent market. Instead, last Tuesday, Semin agreed to terms with Magnitogorsk. Sports.ru was the first to report the news.

Tuesday, the former Washington Capitals “Young Gun” and current 19-year-old Caps goaltending prospect Ilya Samsonov won the Gagarin Cup with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Metallurg defeated CSKA Moscow at home in Game Seven, 3-1. The win comes after firing coach Mike Keenan part way through the season.

Semin signed a one-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens in the summer, but he lasted only 15 games before he was waived and asked to report to their AHL affiliate. Semin declined and returned home to Russia, signing for the remainder of the KHL season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He had 5 goals and 14 points in 20 regular season games.

Meanwhile, the mega-talented Samsonov won six games and posted a .925 save percentage during his first full season in the KHL.

Here’s how it all went down: A year ago, Spartak’s main sponsor, Investbank, lost its license and went bankrupt. Wuh oh. Unable to find financial backing, the storied franchise ceased operations for the second time in recent history and traded 16 of its players (mainly prospects, most notably Team Russia’s goaltender at the last WJC, Igor Shestyorkin) to SKA.

This year, Atlant Moscow Region ran into financial trouble too. The club de-jure folded but its general manager, ex-NHL forward Alexei Zhamnov, moved on to become the general manager of the reborn Spartak. It was announced that 10 of Atlant’s players went to SKA, but now it appears that the number is actually a lot higher.

Today, Spartak acquired all of Atlant’s ex-players from SKA, 24 of them. One of the players, Artem Voronin, actually has been traded five times in the last 13 months (he went from Spartak to SKA to Admiral to Atlant to SKA to Spartak).

This trade came on the heels of another mega-deal between two teams from Russia’s Far East, Amur Khabarovsk and Admiral Vladivostok, in which the teams exchanged a total of 12 assets (10 players and two draft picks), including ex-NHLer Tom Wandell.

We got a lead from Evgeny Namestnikov, who we hired as a scout for us over in Russia. He said come over to watch this young man who he liked a lot, who he coached.

The Maple Leafs hired Namestnikov, a former NHL player and father of current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Vlad, to scout for them while working as an assistant coach for Soshnikov’s Atlant. This went mostly unnoticed in North America, but Russia’s top hockey reporter Alexei Shevchenko, after confirming Namestnikov’s double affiliation, referred to situation as “awkward.”

I think what the Leafs did was an unfair practice and requires an NHL investigation regarding its legality and possibly prohibiting it in the future.

Evgeny Namestnikov entered a contractual relationship with two clubs in two different leagues. Scouts do not only watch players; they also communicate with them. Thus, it’s possible that Namestnikov’s advice to the player he coaches would’ve significantly hurt his employer’s (Atlant) chance of retaining him in favour of his other employer (the Leafs). It sounds like more of a KHL problem, but the same situation could potentially work the other way around: what if a KHL club hired an NHL assistant coach and that’d allow them to gain an edge on the NHL teams in pursuit of players? Such a conflict of interest and informal affiliation with the clubs outside of the NHL-AHL-ECHL system could undermine the integrity of the coaching or front office staff.

Atlant didn’t challenge the move (Soshnikov’s NHL contract kicks in next season but at the time of the signing he was still under a KHL contract where he’ll become a restricted free agent come May 1), so it’s pretty safe to say they didn’t have a problem with their coach working for an NHL team, especially considering Atlant is the most financially-troubled KHL franchise and is rumoured to be leaving the league as soon as this summer.

Namestnikov’s affiliation with the Leafs gave them an unfair advantage over other NHL teams. It’s almost certain that the Leafs were not the only club in pursuit of Soshnikov. However, having their scout embedded in the player’s current team undoubtedly provided them with an inside track to secure Soshnikov’s services. The stories of people getting drafted or signed due to the ties their relatives had with NHL managers aren’t uncommon (for example, the Caps drafted Jakub Vrana in part due to their scout Vojtech Kucera’s long-standing familiarity with the player). But in this situation the Leafs used a professional, not personal, affiliation with the player. As of right now, Namestnikov is still a member of Atlant’s coaching staff.

I would like to think the NHL would be interested in regulating such situations, for example by prohibiting NHL teams to hire personnel already hired by other professional hockey teams. The NHL CBA is pretty strict about regulating the way front offices conduct their business, but it might be time to add one more rule.

]]>http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2015/03/24/how-is-this-allowed-the-leafs-use-insider-trading-to-sign-free-agent-khl-prospect/feed/22Alex Ovechkin Does Not Rule Out Return to Russia In Interview With SovSporthttp://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2015/01/25/alex-ovechkin-does-not-rule-out-return-to-russia-in-interview-with-sovsport/
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2015/01/25/alex-ovechkin-does-not-rule-out-return-to-russia-in-interview-with-sovsport/#commentsSun, 25 Jan 2015 18:58:23 +0000http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/?p=79913

Photo: Dave Sandford

In an interview with SovSport on Saturday, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was asked straight up if he wanted to return to Russia next year. Ya know, to debunk the rumor once and for all so we could all move on. Instead, Ovechkin left the door open for a possible return and even sounded like he has put a lot of thought into the idea.

Sigh.

Sasha, the persistent rumor that you will return to the KHL in 2015 is around. Please debunk it or give hope to the fans.

Alex Ovechkin: We’ll see. There are a lot of nuances in this matter that need to be considered as well as potential obstacles.

Sounds vague.

AO: I’m telling you, to make a KHL return there should be more than just a player’s desire. All factors should come together for it to go through.